The Sackler Curse

 

The Sackler Curse

How One Family Helped Engineer a National Funeral

By RICHIE D. MOWREY for The Sassy Gazette

“Gentle with the grieving. Brutal with the guilty.”

Table of Contents

• A Personal Note
• Introduction: A Nation in Mourning
• Chapter 1: OxyContin The Original “Oxi-Coffin”
• Chapter 2: How to Buy Silence in Washington
• Chapter 3: The Other Devils in the Room
• Chapter 4: Settled Doesn’t Mean Solved
• Chapter 5: What’s Been Done for the Victims?
• Final Words: From Empire to Eulogy

A Personal Note

I survived what has taken so many others.

The opioid epidemic has shattered lives, broken families, and left behind trails of unimaginable pain. My own dependence nearly destroyed everything I held dear. I’ve watched good friends die, some after just one use.

This crisis is complex. Yes, we as addicts must take accountability and fight for our recovery. But let’s not sugarcoat the truth. What Big Pharma did was calculated, ruthless, and devastating.

Far too many never get the chance to rebuild. Addiction doesn’t care who you are. It doesn’t discriminate. It could be your child, your sibling, your niece or nephew, your friend, or even the person next door.

Some of us make it. Many don’t. That’s why compassion matters. Be someone’s cheerleader. Be someone’s safe place. Love them until they can learn to love themselves again.

OxyContin, the drug at the heart of this crisis, is widely believed by many to be a gateway drug. It was marketed as safe and low-risk, but for so many of us, it became the first step toward devastation.

If you or someone you know is battling addiction, please know there is help. Contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. If you are in crisis or feeling suicidal, dial 988 or visit 988lifeline.org. You are not alone. You matter.

Introduction: A Nation in Mourning

Over 600,000 Americans are dead. Not from war. Not from plague. From a pharmaceutical lie that lined pockets while emptying caskets.

At the heart of this disaster is the Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, architects of OxyContin, and engineers of what would become a gateway to hell for millions. The opioid epidemic was not an accident. It was planned, promoted, and protected for profit.

And they didn’t do it alone.

Chapter 1: OxyContin The Original “Oxi-Coffin”

Launched in 1996, OxyContin was marketed as a miracle. Purdue told doctors it was long-acting and “believed to be less addictive” than other opioids. That was a lie.

Inside Purdue Pharma, emails show Richard Sackler calling for a strategy to blame overdose victims.

“They are the culprits and the problem. They are reckless criminals.”

This came while the company pushed doctors to prescribe stronger doses which were more addictive and more profitable. For many, this was the first pill in a spiral that led to heroin and fentanyl.

Chapter 2: How to Buy Silence in Washington

This wasn’t an underground operation. This was lobbyists in tailored suits shaking hands on Capitol Hill.

Purdue Pharma spent millions lobbying Congress and cozying up to the FDA. Dr. Curtis Wright, the FDA official who approved OxyContin’s label, left the agency and was later hired by Purdue. The same label claimed OxyContin had low abuse potential.

Meanwhile, campaign donations flowed. Lawmakers passed the 2016 Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act, which stripped the DEA’s power to stop suspicious opioid shipments. It was supported by the industry. It worked exactly as they wanted it to.

Chapter 3: The Other Devils in the Room

The Sacklers lit the match. But they had plenty of fuel from the rest of Big Pharma.

Johnson & Johnson

Produced opioid ingredients.

$5 billion settlement

Teva Pharmaceuticals

Flooded the market with generics.

$4.25 billion settlement

Endo International

Marketed Opana ER. Removed in 2017.

Filed bankruptcy

Mallinckrodt

Supplied pill mills.

$1.6 billion settlement

McKinsey & Company

Taught Purdue how to boost sales.

$600 million settlement

McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health

Shipped death across the country.

$21 billion combined

They didn’t just profit. They weaponized addiction.

Chapter 4: Settled Doesn’t Mean Solved

The Sacklers agreed to pay $7.4 billion in settlements. But let’s be clear. They still have billions in personal wealth tucked away in offshore accounts. Their art collections remain. Their mansions remain. Their power remains.

Where is the justice?

This family helped fuel a crisis that killed more Americans than World War II. Yet no one wears handcuffs. No one has lost their freedom. Only their company. And they still got paid.

Chapter 5: What’s Been Done for the Victims?

Some of the money has gone to treatment centers, naloxone access, and community recovery programs. That is good. That is necessary.

But many communities still struggle. Some state and local governments are fighting over how to divide the funds. Some settlements barely cover the cost of a funeral, let alone a new life.

Most families never asked for money. They asked for answers. For accountability. For an end to the killing.

Final Words: From Empire to Eulogy

The Sacklers called themselves philanthropists. They named museum wings after themselves and funded institutions. But what is philanthropy that’s paid for in blood?

They cashed out. We buried the dead.

OxyContin was not a miracle. It was a match dropped in dry grass. For millions like me, it sparked a personal war.

The opioid epidemic was built by people in suits who never touched a syringe. But they touched the profits. They touched the power. And they touched every one of us, whether we realized it or not.

This is The Sackler Curse.

And it is written in stone.

A Note on the Visuals:

All images featured in this post were AI-generated by The Sassy Gazette editorial team.

These visuals are crafted to evoke mood, message, and metaphor — not reality. The glitter may be digital, but the rage is absolutely real.

Because when the truth needs a little sparkle, we give it a spotlight.